Singapore: Better times are around the corner for regional golf after a lull in fortunes left some players struggling to make a living, Asian Tour CEO Mike Kerr says.

Kerr called it a “challenging” time for Asian golf, with sponsors hard to find and only seven confirmed stroke play events on this year’s Asian Tour schedule so far.

But he said the Asian Tour was about to announce another four tournaments for the coming months and hoped to have a total of 25 by the end of the year, the same as last season.

Kerr’s comments came after golfers at last week’s Championship in Singapore voiced unhappiness at a lack of playing opportunities.

“I can understand some of the frustrations that they may have at this point,” Kerr told AFP at the Asian Tour’s headquarters in Singapore on Tuesday.

“There have been some external factors that have meant that maybe our ability to announce events has been somewhat restricted.

“But I think, come the end of the year, we’re going to have a similar number of tournaments [to last year], if not more, in what is a fairly tough year.”

Kerr said uncertainty over elections in India and also political unrest in Thailand, both key countries for the Asian Tour, had hit attempts to organise tournaments this year.

But he conceded that, with playing opportunities staying flat for at least the short-term, some golfers in the region may be forced out of the game.

“This is just like any other sport and indeed any other profession, where those who are successful continue, and continue to grow and rise to the top,” he said.

“Those who are not so successful struggle and may have to find something else to do. It’s tough but that’s the world that we live in, that’s reality.

“All I can continue to do is to help to steer the organisation... and deliver more and more opportunities for the players to earn money. But I can’t come inside the ropes and tell them what club to hit.”

After a boom period for the Asian Tour schedule, growth has petered out, hit by leaner economic times and more competition following the arrival of the rival OneAsia tour in 2009.

The region’s flagship events have suffered with the Singapore Open, once touted as “Asia’s major”, sidelined and the Hong Kong Open also without a title sponsor.

Last week’s Championship was transplanted from South Korea to Singapore at the last minute after also losing its main backer, Ballantine’s, after a run of six editions.